Conrad Murray Trial: Defense Switches Strategies as Final Witnesses Called

As the trial in Dr. Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter case sees its final witnesses before closing, his defense lawyers have changed strategies and are no longer arguing that Murray’s patient, Michael Jackson, gave himself the dose of of the drug propofol that subsequently killed him.

Instead, they will argue that Jackson injected the anesthetic and swallowed another sedative while Murray did not see him, the Los Angeles Times reports. Thus, the defense says, Murray could not be held responsible for Jackson’s death.

But Dr. Alon Steinberg, a cardiologist who testified at the trial Wednesday, said Murray’s negligence did in fact cause Jackson’s demise. He said that leaving the pop star in a situation where he could self-administer the drug was not acceptable practice.

“All those deviations, giving propofol in an unmonitored setting without personnel, without appropriate monitoring, without appropriate equipment, not being prepared, not appropriately reacting to an arrest, not calling 911 in a timely fashion, all directly impacted his life,” Steinberg said. “Because if these deviations would not have happened, Mr. Jackson would have been alive.”